What are the fundamentals of Responsive Web Design?

We are looking at the Responsive Web design here (RWD). So what is this RWD, by the way? And what are the fundamentals of Responsive Web Design? And above all, why is it so important to talk about the RWD?

To begin with, RWD belongs to the domain of Web Design and Development. But, at the same time, it is a key SEO technique that can make web pages rank! Do you know why?

A study featured in Harward Business Review shows that the percentage of internet access from mobile devices is growing at a great speed globally. For example, it moved from 57% to 63% in the last year alone. In 2014, about 242.92 million people in India accessed the internet through their mobile phones. In 2018, it was about 358.46 million. Consequently, this figure will to rise to 492.68 million in the year 2022.

In short, this statistical information shows us there has been a steady rise in the usage of mobile internet. Moreover, it is likely to get intense as time goes. And to take it further, more than half of the total internet traffic comes from mobile users.

As a result, Google started to boost the ratings of sites that are mobile-friendly. So if your site is mobile friendly, you have a better chance of securing a top rank on Google searches.

So, this data and the RWD is related. But how?

Can you recall an instance where you opened a certain webpage on your mobile but had to zoom in, zoom out, and scroll all possible ways to read a few lines? Not a smooth experience, for sure! So, whom can we blame? The website.

And how to fix it?

The answer is Responsive Web Design.

What is Responsive Web Design?

RWD is a web design approach that makes web pages run well on a variety of devices, browser windows, and screen sizes. The goal of responsive web design is to have a website that responds differently when viewed on devices of different sizes. RWD uses only HTML and CSS media queries to address the need of the hour.

RWD will make web content seem like water. Like water, content should be able to fit into any device-phone, tablet, desktop. Moreover, all screen resolutions must be compatible too.

What are the Fundamentals of Responsive Web Design?

There are few basics that you might want to know before you venture out into the field of RWD. These fundamentals of Responsive Web Design will let the beginners gain a fair amount of idea as to what RWD is about.

• Choice of Device

There are some differences in starting a project from a smaller screen or a desktop screen. There is this obvious difference in the width–one has max width while the other is smaller.

Of course, a responsive web designer can start working with any device. However, it is better to start by creating a basic web site for mobile phones.

You know, those simple ones that do not understand JavaScript or media queries. And then you could go ahead and improve it for bigger screens and smarter devices. Smaller screens also allow you to add styles gradually instead of invalidating styles.

But, again, smaller screens are limited in space, and you might end up negating certain desktop features from your agenda.

So, in the end, you should explore both the options and see which one works out for you.

•  Font Style

You have got both Web fonts and System fonts. You can go for web fonts if you want to have a cool looking font style on your website.

However, there is a risk of the web page taking longer to load.

Or you may stick to system fonts which, in contrast, are light and simple looking. You can create your own responsive webpage with the font style and font size of your choice.

Just keep in mind that a page that takes longer to load will not enjoy the desired success.

• Layouts

All page elements in responsive websites are placed in relative proportion. Use of fluid grid instead of the fixed width grids is recommended. With that, you can create a website layout that will dynamically resize to any width.

Only the traditional CSS layouts used fixed width grids to position the elements. However, due to the wide range of devices with a wider range of screen sizes and browser width, this will stop being a responsive layout.

In a responsive web page, there is no question of how wide each section should be.

They are positioned in relation to the other columns. Each column is given a relative percentage or size instead of a specific height and width.

Using breakpoints will allow the design and layout of the website to change according to the nature of devices and browsers.  are one the important fundamentals of Responsive Web Design.

•  Viewport

People access the internet through several devices, with laptop/ desktop and mobile reigning the scene. A website that works well on all devices will maintain a good viewport and viewpoint.

Set a viewport by giving the browser instructions through meta tags on how to regulate the page’s scaling and dimensions. The website, when viewed on a smaller screen, should have the content flowing downwards.

This vertical flow of the content provides a good user experience while optimizing text for reading. You can apply media queries to CSS styles to fix it.

Final Thoughts

The field of Web design and development is put into a constant brainstorm with every passing day. With the endless invention of new resolutions and devices, web designers’ hands are full.

RWD is an interesting field to work in, but more importantly, it is a field in demand. A career in RWD is no joke. These fundamentals of Responsive Web Design is only a speck in the sky. If you are considering making RWD as your career, gain the necessary qualification and update yourself regularly.

By doing our web designing course you’ll learn to use the various tools of the RWD and ll learn to deal with the multifaceted field of web designing.